Bottom Line:
Common salt (NaCl) is frequently used by the food industry to add flavor and to act as a humectant in order to reduce the water content of a food product.The improved health awareness of consumers is leading to a demand for food products with reduced salt content; thus, manufacturers require alternative water activity-reducing agents which elicit the same general effects as NaCl.Typhimurium to different humectants does not simply reflect reduced water activity and likely involves systems that are linked to specific humectants.

Mentions:
In contrast to the results obtained at 1 h after exposure to the three humectants, at 6 h after exposure, KCl-exposed cells showed the most differentially expressed genes according to the change in expression of greater than 3-fold (P < 0.05) compared with that of the ESP control, with 334 genes being upregulated and 409 genes being downregulated (total number of genes with changes in expression, 743) (Table 1). In the case of exposure of the strain to NaCl and glycerol, there were 481 and 450 differentially expressed genes, respectively. Figure 3 summarizes the changes in expression in the bacterial cell occurring at 6 h postexposure to humectants.

Mentions:
In contrast to the results obtained at 1 h after exposure to the three humectants, at 6 h after exposure, KCl-exposed cells showed the most differentially expressed genes according to the change in expression of greater than 3-fold (P < 0.05) compared with that of the ESP control, with 334 genes being upregulated and 409 genes being downregulated (total number of genes with changes in expression, 743) (Table 1). In the case of exposure of the strain to NaCl and glycerol, there were 481 and 450 differentially expressed genes, respectively. Figure 3 summarizes the changes in expression in the bacterial cell occurring at 6 h postexposure to humectants.

Bottom Line:
Common salt (NaCl) is frequently used by the food industry to add flavor and to act as a humectant in order to reduce the water content of a food product.The improved health awareness of consumers is leading to a demand for food products with reduced salt content; thus, manufacturers require alternative water activity-reducing agents which elicit the same general effects as NaCl.Typhimurium to different humectants does not simply reflect reduced water activity and likely involves systems that are linked to specific humectants.